U.S. patent application number 13/561151 was filed with the patent office on 2014-01-30 for countertop automatic foam soap dispenser.
This patent application is currently assigned to ABLEMAN INTERNATIONAL COMPANY LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is MOSES-B. LIN. Invention is credited to MOSES-B. LIN.
Application Number | 20140027468 13/561151 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49993884 |
Filed Date | 2014-01-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140027468 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LIN; MOSES-B. |
January 30, 2014 |
COUNTERTOP AUTOMATIC FOAM SOAP DISPENSER
Abstract
A countertop automatic foam soap dispenser includes an automatic
foam soap dispenser body, a soap liquid container, a circular
connecting tube and a battery compartment. The soap liquid
container is filled with an appropriate quantity of liquid soap.
The battery compartment supplies electric power to the automatic
foam soap dispenser body. The automatic foam soap dispenser body is
passed through the circular connecting tube by a soap transmission
tube and installed to the bottom inside the soap liquid container.
The automatic foam soap dispenser body includes a foam soap valve,
a control circuit board, a sensor, a motor controlled by the
control circuit board, and a transmission gear set. When a user's
hand approaches a sensor of the automatic foam soap dispenser body,
the motor drives a cam of the transmission gear set to rotate and
compress a foam soap valve to supply the appropriate quantity of
foam soap.
Inventors: |
LIN; MOSES-B.; (TAIPEI CITY,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
LIN; MOSES-B. |
TAIPEI CITY |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
ABLEMAN INTERNATIONAL COMPANY
LTD.
TAIPEI CITY
TW
|
Family ID: |
49993884 |
Appl. No.: |
13/561151 |
Filed: |
July 30, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
222/63 ;
222/52 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47K 2005/1218 20130101;
A47K 5/16 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
222/63 ;
222/52 |
International
Class: |
B65D 83/00 20060101
B65D083/00 |
Claims
1. A countertop automatic foam soap dispenser, comprising: an
automatic foam soap dispenser body, a soap liquid container and a
battery compartment, characterized in that: the soap liquid
container is filled with an appropriate quantity of liquid soap,
and has a circular connecting tube installed at the top of the soap
liquid container, and a connecting socket disposed at the top of
the soap liquid container and proximate to a side of the circular
connecting tube; the automatic foam soap dispenser body is
installed and passed through the circular connecting tube by a soap
transmission tube and extended to the bottom inside the soap liquid
container, such that the automatic foam soap dispenser is driven to
supply an appropriate quantity of foam soap when a user's hand
approaches the automatic foam soap dispenser body; the battery
compartment provides a direct-current power, and a connecting plug
installed at an end of the power cord is electrically coupled to a
connecting socket, and the connecting socket is electrically
coupled to a power cable, and the power cable is electrically
coupled to the automatic foam soap dispenser; the liquid soap
container is installed under the countertop of the sink, and the
circular connecting tube at the top of the liquid soap container is
penetrated through the countertop of the sink and coupled to the
bottom of the automatic foam soap dispenser body for combining and
fixing the liquid soap container and the automatic foam soap
dispenser body to the countertop of the sink to assemble a whole
countertop automatic foam soap dispenser structure.
2. The countertop automatic foam soap dispenser of claim 1, wherein
the automatic foam soap dispenser body comprises a lid that can be
lifted and opened upward, and a casing formed by engaging a left
casing and a right casing, and the casing contains a pressing foam
soap valve for supplying soap, a control circuit board electrically
coupled to the battery compartment for an operation, a press device
controlled by the control circuit board, and a sensor for sensing
an approaching object and feeding back a signal to the control
circuit board to start the press device to press the foam soap
valve, and an end of the foam soap valve is coupled to the soap
transmission tube, and the soap transmission tube is passed through
the bottom of the liquid container, such that the press device is
driven to press the foam soap valve to supply an appropriate
quantity of foam liquid when the user's hand approaches the
sensor.
3. The countertop automatic foam soap dispenser of claim 2, wherein
the press device comprises a fixed plate, a motor, a transmission
gear set, two fixing members and a slide member, characterized in
that the fixed plate has a plurality of screw holes; the motor is
installed at a lower edge of the rear of the fixed plate; the
transmission gear set includes a plurality of large and small gears
engaged with one another and installed and axially coupled to an
upper edge of the fixed plate, and a cam axially coupled to the
transmission gear set, and the motor is rotated to synchronously
rotate the cam of the transmission gear set; the two fixing members
have a concave long slot formed at the middle of an inner side of
the fixing members, and two screw holes formed on an outer side of
the fixing members; the slide member includes a slender protruding
block convexly extended from both sides of the slide member, a
press plate convexly and vertically extended upward from a front
end of the slide member, and a semicircular arc groove hole
concavely formed at the middle of the press plate, and a snap slot
of a nozzle at a front end of the foam soap valve is snapped into
the semicircular arc groove, and the slide member is substantially
a frame cover having an upper baffle disposed at the bottom of a
side of the frame cover, and a lower baffle disposed on the other
side of the frame cover; and the slide member has a protruding
block disposed separately on both sides of the slide member and
installed in a long groove of each of the two fixing members, a
plurality of screws installed into screw holes on external sides of
the two fixing members respectively and screwed into screw holes of
the fixed plate to cover the slide member onto a cam of the
transmission gear set, so as to assemble a whole press device
structure, and the motor is rotated to synchronously rotate the cam
of the transmission gear set, and an edge of the cam pushes and
presses at the upper baffle and the lower baffle of the slide
member, and the press plate of the slide member moves back and
forth to press the foam soap valve, so as to define a stroke of a
pressing operation to supply soap.
4. A countertop automatic foam soap dispenser, comprising: an
automatic foam soap dispenser body, a soap liquid container and an
AC adapter, characterized in that: the soap liquid container is
filled with an appropriate quantity of liquid soap, and has a
circular connecting tube installed at the top of the soap liquid
container, and a connecting socket disposed at the top of the soap
liquid container and proximate to a side of the circular connecting
tube; the automatic foam soap dispenser body is installed and
passed through the circular connecting tube by a soap transmission
tube and extended to the bottom inside the soap liquid container,
such that the automatic foam soap dispenser is driven to supply an
appropriate quantity of foam soap when a user's hand approaches the
automatic foam soap dispenser body; the AC adapter provides a
power, and the AC adapter is electrically coupled to a connecting
socket through a connecting plug installed at an end of the power
cord, and the connecting socket is electrically coupled to a power
cable, and the power cable is electrically coupled to the automatic
foam soap dispenser; the liquid soap container is installed under
the countertop of the sink, and the circular connecting tube at the
top of the liquid soap container is penetrated through the
countertop of the sink and coupled to the bottom of the automatic
foam soap dispenser body for combining and fixing the liquid soap
container and the automatic foam soap dispenser body to the
countertop of the sink to assemble a whole countertop automatic
foam soap dispenser structure.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a countertop automatic foam
soap dispenser, in particular to the automatic foam soap dispenser
installed on a countertop next to a faucet of a sink, and having a
soap supplying outlet formed on the automatic foam soap dispenser
and aligned towards the sink. The invention provides an automatic
sensing foam soap dispenser.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] As living standards improve, long-existing manual pressing
soap dispensers are gradually replaced by automatic sensing soap
dispensers. Conventional automatic soap dispensers are generally
installed and fixed on walls, and foam soap is usually remained at
a soap supplying outlet of the conventional automatic soap
dispenser, and the soap liquid will drop directly from the soap
supplying outlet after a certain time of using, and thus staining
the countertop or the floor.
[0005] In addition, the conventional wall-hanging type automatic
soap dispenser is installed and fixed on walls, so that the
carrying load cannot be over-weight, and the volume of the soap
liquid stored in the dispenser body will be limited, and must be
refilled frequently. If the soap liquid is leaked from the
dispenser body, the component and the control circuit of the
dispenser may be damaged easily, thus incurring higher repair and
maintenance costs.
[0006] In view of the drawbacks of the conventional soap dispenser,
the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience
in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and
experiments, and finally developed a countertop automatic foam soap
dispenser in accordance with the present invention to overcome the
drawbacks of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Therefore, Therefore, it is a primary objective of the
present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by
providing a countertop automatic foam soap dispenser, not only
providing a convenient use, but also improving the service life and
practical effect of the automatic foam soap dispenser.
[0008] To achieve the foregoing objectives, the present invention
provides a countertop automatic foam soap dispenser, comprising: an
automatic foam soap dispenser body, a soap liquid container, a
circular connecting tube and a battery compartment. The soap liquid
container is filled with an appropriate quantity of liquid soap and
has a circular connecting tube installed at the top of the soap
liquid container, and an external screw thread formed at an
upper-half external periphery of the circular connecting tube, a
connecting socket disposed on a side of the circular connecting
tube. The battery compartment is electrically coupled to the
connecting socket through a connecting plug at an end of a power
cord, and the connecting socket is coupled to a power cord, and the
power cord is electrically coupled to the automatic foam soap
dispenser body, and a nut is installed to the circular connecting
tube at the top of the soap liquid container, and then the circular
connecting tube is penetrated through a countertop of a sink and
screwed to the bottom of the automatic foam soap dispenser body,
and the nut is provided for fixing the soap liquid container and
the automatic foam soap dispenser body to the countertop of the
sink.
[0009] The automatic foam soap dispenser body has a lid that can be
lifted open and a casing formed by engaging a left casing and a
right casing, and the casing includes a pressing foam soap valve
for supplying soap, a control circuit board electrically coupled to
the battery compartment, a motor and a transmission gear set
controlled by the control circuit board, and a sensor for sensing
an approaching object to feed back a signal to the control circuit
board to start the motor to rotate, drive and press the foam soap
valve. The invention is characterized in that a soap transmission
tube is coupled to an end of the foam soap valve, and the soap
transmission tube is passed through the bottom inside the soap
liquid container. When a user's hand approaches the sensor, the
motor drives the cam installed on the transmission gear set to
rotate, so as to drive the press plate of slide member to compress
the foam soap valve and supply an appropriate quantity of foam
soap.
[0010] The soap dispenser of the present invention is installed on
a countertop next to a faucet of a sink, and the soap supplying
outlet of the automatic foam soap dispenser is aligned towards the
interior of the sink, such that even if soap liquid drops from the
soap dispenser, the soap will drop into the sink directly to
maintain a clean and hygienic effect.
[0011] In addition, the present invention separately installs the
automatic foam soap dispenser body and the soap liquid container at
the upper and lower position of the countertop of the sink, and the
volume of soap contained in the soap liquid container can be
increased, and the soap can be refilled as needed. The circuit
components and foam soap valve installed inside the automatic foam
soap dispenser body have a long service life.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic foam soap
dispenser installed to a sink in accordance with the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an automatic foam soap
dispenser of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an automatic foam soap
dispenser body (10) of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a press device (70) of the
present invention;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a lid (20) of an automatic
foam soap dispenser body (10) of the present invention being lifted
open;
[0017] FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of an automatic foam
soap dispenser body (10) of the present invention; and
[0018] FIGS. 7 and 8 are planar schematic views showing the
operation of pressing an automatic foam soap dispenser to supply
soap in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] To make it easier for our examiner to understand the
technical characteristics, effects and advantages of the present
invention, we use preferred embodiments with related drawings for
the detailed description of the present invention as follows.
[0020] In FIGS. 1 and 2, a countertop automatic foam soap dispenser
of the present invention comprises: an automatic foam soap
dispenser body (10), a soap liquid container (12), a circular
connecting tube (13) and a battery compartment (18). The soap
liquid container (12) is filled with an appropriate quantity of
liquid soap and has the circular connecting tube (13) installed at
the top of the soap liquid container (12), an external screw thread
(131) formed at an upper-half external periphery of the circular
connecting tube (13), a connecting socket (14) disposed at the top
of the soap liquid container (12) and proximate to a side of the
circular connecting tube (13) and electrically coupled to a power
cord (15), and the power cord (15) is electrically coupled to the
automatic foam soap dispenser body (10). The battery compartment
(18) provides a direct-current power, and a connecting plug (191)
is electrically coupled to the connecting socket (14) through an
end of the power cord (19), and a nut (17) is passed through the
circular connecting tube (13) at the top of the soap liquid
container (12) and then the circular connecting tube (13) is
penetrated through a countertop (11) of a sink and screwed to the
bottom of the automatic foam soap dispenser body (10), and the nut
(17) is provided for combining and fixing the soap liquid container
(12) and the automatic foam soap dispenser body (10) to the
countertop (11) of the sink.
[0021] Another assembled device of the present invention changes
the battery compartment for supplying DC power to an AC adapter for
supplying power, and the AC adapter is electrically coupled to a
connecting socket through an end of a power cord, and the
connecting socket is coupled to a power cord, and the power cord is
coupled to the countertop automatic foam soap dispenser.
[0022] With reference to FIG. 3, the automatic foam soap dispenser
body (10) comprises a lid (20), a left casing (30), a right casing
(40), a foam soap valve (50), a support base (60), a press device
(70) and a control circuit board (80).
[0023] The lid (20) is substantially an arc-shell cover having a
shaft hole (21) formed on both sides of a lower edge of the front
of the lid separately.
[0024] The left casing (30) has a convex shaft (31) convexly
disposed at an inner side of the upper edge of the front of the
left casing (30), two latch fasteners (32, 33) and a plurality of
convex screw shafts (34) convexly disposed inside the left casing
(30), and a semicircular tubular internal screw thread (35) formed
at the bottom of the left casing (30).
[0025] The right casing (40) is installed at a position
corresponding to the left casing (30).
[0026] The foam soap valve (50) includes a long circular tubular
nozzle (51) protruded from a front end of the foam soap valve (50),
a circular snap slot (52) formed at a rear section of the nozzle
(51), a connector (53) installed at a rear end of the foam soap
valve (50) and downwardly extended and sheathed on a soap
transmission tube (16). With air pressure, the foam soap valve (50)
drives soap liquid and air to pass through a foaming component
inside the foam soap valve (50) to form foam soap from the liquid
soap. Since the foaming technology is a prior art, it will not be
described in detailed here.
[0027] The support base (60) is substantially in form of a
semicircular cylindrical frame having a shaft hole (61) formed on
both sides of the front of the support base (60) separately, and a
plurality of convex screw shafts (62) disposed at the bottom of the
support base (60).
[0028] With reference to FIG. 4, the press device (70) comprises a
fixed plate (71), a motor (72), a transmission gear set (73), two
fixing members (75, 76) and a slide member (77).
[0029] The fixed plate (71) has a plurality of screw holes (711,
712), and the motor (72) is installed at a lower edge of the rear
of the fixed plate (71), and the transmission gear set (73)
includes a plurality of large and small gears engaged with one
another and installed and axially coupled to an upper edge of the
fixed plate (71), and a cam (74) is axially coupled to the
transmission gear set (73).
[0030] The fixing member (75) has a concave long slot (751) formed
at the middle of an inner side of the fixing member (75), and two
screw holes (not shown in the figure) formed on an outer side of
the fixing member (75).
[0031] The fixing member (76) has a concave long slot (not shown in
the figure) formed at the middle of an inner side of the fixing
member (76) and two screw holes (762) formed on an outer side of
the fixing member (76).
[0032] The slide member (77) includes a slender protruding block
(78) convexly extended from both sides of the slide member (77), a
press plate (79) convexly and vertically extended upward from a
front end of the slide member (77), a semicircular arc groove hole
(791) concavely formed at the middle of the press plate (79). In
FIG. 7, the slide member (77) is substantially in form of a frame
cover having an upper baffle (771) installed at the bottom of a
side of the slide member (77) and a lower baffle (772) installed on
the other side of the slide member (77). The slide member (77) is
contained into a long groove of the two fixing members (75, 76)
through the protruding blocks (78) on both sides, and a plurality
of screws (93) are passed through the screw holes formed on
external sides of the two fixing members (75, 76) and screwed to
the screw holes (711) of the fixed plate (71), such that the slide
member (77) can be covered onto the cam (74) of the transmission
gear set (73) to constitute a whole press device (70).
[0033] The support base (60) is fixed to the convex screw shaft
(62) of the support base (60) by passing a plurality of screws (92)
through the screw holes (712) of the fixed plate (71), so that the
foam soap valve (50) can be installed inside the support base (60),
and the snap slot (52) formed at a front section of the foam soap
valve (50) is latched into the semicircular arc groove hole (791)
of the press plate (79) at the front end of the slide member (77).
The fixed plate (71) of the press device (70) is latched with the
two latch fasteners (32, 33) convexly disposed in the left casing
(30). The shaft hole (61) formed on a side of the front of the
support base (60) is sheathed on the convex shaft (31) installed on
an inner side of the upper edge of the left casing (30). The shaft
hole (21) formed at the lower edge of the front end of the lid (20)
is sheathed on the convex shaft (31) of the left casing (30), and a
sensor (81) is installed on an outer side of the top of the control
circuit board (80) to latch the control circuit board (80) into the
front edge of the left casing (30) to engage the left casing (30)
and the right casing (40), and a plurality of screws (91) are
passed through the convex screw shafts (34) of the left casing (30)
and screwed to the right casing (40) to assemble a whole automatic
foam soap dispenser body (10).
[0034] In FIG. 5, the lid (20) of the automatic foam soap dispenser
body (10) of the present invention is axially coupled to the left
casing (30) and the upper portion of the front of the right casing
(40), and the lid (20) can be lifted open, so that the foam soap
valve (50) can be maintained or replaced conveniently.
[0035] With reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 for the way of supplying foam
soap in accordance with the present invention foam soap, when a
user's hand approaches a sensor (81) installed on an outer side of
the top of the control circuit board (80), a motor (72) is driven
to rotate the transmission gear set (73) clockwise and drive the
cam (74) to synchronously rotate clockwise. When an edge of the cam
(74) pushes the upper baffle (771) of the slide member (77) as
shown in FIG. 8, the press plate (79) of the slide member (77)
compresses the foam soap valve (50) to supply an appropriate
quantity of foam soap from the nozzle (51). When the cam (74)
continues rotating clockwise, the edge of the cam (74) pushes the
lower baffle (772) of the slide member (77) as shown in FIG. 7 to
return the press plate (79) of the slide member (77) to its
original position, so as to complete the process of supplying
soap.
[0036] While the invention has been described by means of specific
embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made
thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the
scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
* * * * *